Retro Re-release Roundup, week of January 29, 2026

A word of consolation for anyone who can't read, acquire or otherwise enjoy the Japan-only Dokapon comp for Switch: series devs Sting just launched the full version of their latest RPG-tinged boardgame, Viractal, which borrows the aesthetic and many of the mechanical conceits of more modern run-based games and places its focus on genuine co-op... or, at least, covert inter-player subterfuge, as opposed to Dokapon's bald-faced harrassment.

ARCADE ARCHIVES / ARCADE ARCHIVES 2

Quester

What's this? A plain ol' brick breaker, originally developed and distributed in arcades by Namco in 1987, and reissued just once via the Japanese Wii Virtual Console (with the trademark-ducking rename Namco Quester); move the paddle, bounce the ball, break the bricks, prepare for multiball after hitting the sides fifty-something times, you get the drill. (As with other recent paddle-controlled Arcade Archives reissues, you have the option to control this game with either a USB mouse or, on Switch 2, the joycon mouse functionality.)

Why should I care? You've been playing Namco's early brick-breakers as they've been reissued via ACA in recent months and you're relieved to finally try one that doesn't attempt to hybridize other game concepts and isn't held back by its hardware — if you want harder, sloppier Arkanoid, you will get it, no more and no less.

Helpful tip: There exists a rare "Special" revision of this game that includes fan-designed stages solicited by Gamest magazine, and I'm guessing it's not included here for two reasons: one, Namco's insistence on treating minor revisions as wholly separate games deserving of standalone reissues, and two, potential legal issues surrounding the resale of a game that not only includes third-party content but displays the creators' names prominently on their respective stages.

EGG CONSOLE

Wonderland of Carbuncle (MSX2)

What's this? A simple fixed-screen shooting game starring Puyo Puyo/Madou Monogatari mascot Carbuncle, originally developed by Compile in 1991 and distributed via issue #25 of Compile Disk Station; set in a generic fairytale-esque setting, players are tasked with collecting and delivering falling apples from a tree, which necessitates shooting up at the many enemies that fly and attack from above, catching and throwing falling apples to delivery birds and occasionally taking on the boss-style foes that emerge from the center of the tree.

Why should I care? You really want to internalise the reality that, for every novel or substantial game that was conceived or debuted via Disk Station, there were just as many throwaway games made by new hires that were only intended to hold one's interest for the one play session they were destined to receive.

Language barrier? Not at all.

G-MODE ARCHIVES+

Tantei Kibukawa Ryosuke Jikentan Collection Zenpen / Kohen

What're these? A pair of physical collations And-Joy's cult detective mistory series Tantei Kibukawa Ryosuke Jikentan, originally released across Japanese mobiles phones from 2002 to 2011 and consisting of twenty numbered entries, with a Nintendo DS game and the occasional spinoff or e-book interspersed throughout; each of these collections contains ten numbered volumes apiece, as well as a reissued series-themed minigame and reproduced e-book per collection. (The deluxe package includes several bonus items, including a physical book containing all three of the e-book stories; yes, that's Ace Attorney artist Tatsura Iwamoto's work on the box arts, too.)

Why should I care? On a purely practical level, these comps include several games that aren't yet available standalone — volumes 18 through 20 and the spinoff games, to be precise — so if you want advance access to the final games in the series, here's how you can get 'em. Thinking bigger, these collections not only represent a milestone for a very erstwhile initiative to preserve and reissue old games from a corner of the industry that has traditionally been overlooked or dismissed as overly commercial or otherwise not valuable, it's also tangible evidence that, through the maintainted, consistent effort to putting these games back in front of people, they're able to not only foster reappreciation but genuinely breathe new life into a series once dismissed as being relegated to its era. (Being adjacent to the other surprise mystery adventure hit of the last few years, Paranormasight, obviously didn't hurt, either.)

Helpful tip: For those specifically interested due to the contributions of Paranormasignt writer/creator Takanari Ishiyama, do note that they specifically wrote the first ten volumes, and that the remainder (ie the second collection) were written by others — and not at all poorly, I should add, so don't feel like you ought to drop off at the midway point.

OTHER

Dokapon 3-2-1 Super Collection!

What's this? An emulated collection containing the three Super Famicom entries in Asmik Ace's (now Sting's) long-running, friendship-destroying RPG boardgame series Dokapon — 1993's Kessen! Dokapon Oukoku IV: Densetsu no Yuusha Tachi, 1994's Dokapon 3-2-1 – Arashi o Yobu Yuujou and 1995's Dokapon Gaiden: Honoo no Audition — presented here with save states, a 3x turbo setting and the ability to view scans of the original manuals while you play, as well as new illustrations by original artist and mangaka Ami Shibata. (This collection is entirely in Japanese and Sting hasn't so much as hinted at a potential localization.)

Why should I care? You're interested in exploring the roots of what remains a very singular sort of backstabbing party videogame experience, as well as discovering just how many ideas they were able to toy with over the course of those initial three games (including the attempts at super-condensed play seen in Dokapon Gaiden, which were largely abandoned thereafter); you're also fully able to acknowledge that these games aren't being reissued with online multiplayer, thereby forcing you to play them live in a room with other people, and therefore accept full legal responsibility for any injuries that may occur as a result of your choices.

Helpful tip: More seasoned players may have already played versions of two of the three games in this collection: Dokapon IV was remade for DS as Dokapon Journey, and Dokapon 3-2-1 was remade for Wii as Dokapon Kingdom (and recently remastered for Switch and PC).

Front Mission 3 - Remake

What's this? Other-platform ports of the third and last of Forever Entertainment's Switch remakes from the classic Square/G-Craft mecha tactics series Front Misson, with this entry originally developed and published worldwide for the Sony PlayStation in 2000; as with the previous remakes, the game has been fully remade with new 3D assets and digitally-"enhanced" 2D assets, newly-reorchestrated music, new translations across various languages and more, as well as additional visual customization options and a new quick-skirmish mode.

Why should I care? My willingness to be polite about Forever's terrible and increasingly AI-riddled remakes has reached its limit: this is a poorly-made and deeply disrespectful version of a beloved game and the only potential silver lining to its continued existence is that Square-Enix might feel a need to pursue new, authentic entries in this dormant series for the sole purpose of apologizing for ever allowing garbage like this to exist.

Because I forgot to mention it last week: Donkey Kong Country Returns HD, the Forever-handled Switch port of DKC Returns, has received a free update that fixes certain visual issues relating to fur rendering, addresses legacy mechanical bugs inherited from the 3DS version, improves load times and resolution on Switch 2 and adds Dixie Kong as a playable partner, among other changes — y'see, all it took was an extra year and the backing of friggin' Nintendo to get a halfway decent outcome.

Nickelodeon Splat Pack

What's this? An emulated collection containing three mid-'90s console games based on Nickelodeon properties — the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis versions of Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, the Super Nintendo game Nickelodeon G.U.T.S and the Super Nintendo game Rocko’s Modern Life: Spunky’s Dangerous Day — with a modest selection of enhancements that include rewind, save states and screen options. (The developer, Mighty Rabbit Studios, is the studio of Limited Run Games' former CEO; what that means for the state and quality of this collection and future collections in their name remains to be seen.)

Why should I care? Look, you've heard the "even bad games ought to be preserved" spiel a thousand times before, I'm sure, so I'll spare you the recap (and sidestep the conflation between "game preservation" and "being able to pay money for something on my console of choice in [current year]") and say that the Real Monsters game is... almost okay. 

Helpful tip: you might have seen this release announced for Xbox some months ago: you weren't wrong, that version's been canceled.

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE

Streets of Fury EX (Steam) "Come back in 10 Years!" update (free)

Long before their critically-acclaimed work on Streets of Rage 4 and the recent Absolom, Guard Crush Games were cutting their melee combat chops with Streets of Fury, a no-limits, multi-plane digitized fighting game that would quickly make its way to PC as Streets of Fury EX... and now, some ten years after the last version, it's received a free update that adds a tag battle mode, some additional characters from a French Youtube channel I know nothing about, additional challenge stages and more; it's also just 10% of its usual price for the next week or so, so have at it.